Internal-combustion engine



March 26, 1 929. c. H. KENNEWEG v INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sept. 25, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l m T N E lh C March 26, 1929. c, H. KENNEWEG 1306,6913

- INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sept. 25, 1925 Sheets-Bhi 2 INVENTOR Patented Mar. 26, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,706,693 PATENT oFFicE.

CHRISTIAN H. KENNEWEG, OF MILLVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO KENNE- WEG MOTORS CORPORATION, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

InTERNA -oo BUs'rion ENGINE.

Application filed'September 25 1925; semi No. 58,510.

This invention relates to internal com bustion engines, and particularly to an improved method of cooling the same and improving the operation thereof by supplying vapor from the cooling system to the engine cylinders n The ordinary Water circulating system, Whether it be pump or thermo-siphon, is operated at atmospheric pressure at all times and the disadvantages of this system are Well known. It has been'proposed in numerous prior patents to employ a cooling system wherein the Water is maintainedat substantially boiling temperature, thus maintaining a higher engine temperature'and' securing a greater efliciencyb Manyof these prior systems, while they have been operated satisfactorily on a block'test have failed utterly onhrofad tests for the reasonthat' the systems were essentially incapable of taking care of the extreme and rapid variation in load condition f 'which occurs in ordinary driving; All. of' th ese prior systems have been designed. to op'erate'at a definite pressure, generally atmospheric pressure but sometimes suhatmospheric. Numerous vents and pressure valves have been provided'to insure operation atpredetermined pressure, but it has been found by actual test that when these various arrangements are used on the road here at one instant the enginemay be idling and at the next instant turn over at maximum speed, the entire system fails and unsatisfactoryfresults are secured.

In certain systems this failure is due to ,alarge extent tothe fact that Water is car-v ried'to the condenser in addition tonthe steam which is to be condensed. As a result; the entire-system becomes practically inoperative on the road. I provide a separating tanlcwhichn akes it practicallyimpossible any water to everenter the condenser and this is foundlin practiceto be 'ofconsiderable importance;

I provi lea cooling system wherein the Water is maintained at substantially. boiling condition. for hatever pressure, then exists in the jacket and vary this pressure to points above and below"atmosphere-in accordance with the engine load. e V 3 I Obviouslythe-effective area ofa'coiidenser -for'use injautomobile Work can. be varied only withingsmall limits, as shuttersor 1 the like and. this I- believe is one Of'the tlensing efficiency is lowered.

causes for failure of the systems heretofore proposed. By my system, if the pressure is permitted to rise in a system, then obviously the Water temperature also rises and since this means a greater temperature difference between the steam in the condenser and the air which is used for cooling the condenser, the efficiency of thesystem is increased. Conversely, if tliepressure drops, then the steam temperature more nearly approaches the air temperature and the con- Since the heat conducted through the engine cylinders to the cooling water increases with the load, it 'Willbe apparent that the provision of a system intended to operate at varying pres;- sures automatically causes a variation of the condenser 'cfliciency With the final; re-

sult of a cooling system which has proved 4 under severe road tests to be capable of' operating in a perfectly satisfactorymanner under the most extreme conditions. r

I I have further provided for ithdrawing a certain amount'of. the vapor supplied in the system to the engine cylinders and for varying the amount of vapor supplied in accordance with thecngine load. The steam is Withdrawn from the cooling system from v a space Where there is no possibility of Water larity of operation.

In the "accompanying drawings illustrating more or less diagrammatically a preferred embodiment 'of the invention v 'Figure 1 is a vertical section through a coolingsystem embodying my invention and showing its application to anautomobile engine;

Figfi e Figure 1 2 is a section on the line II -II of shown inIFigure land attached to the in vention there is shown an internal combusf tionengine indicated generally by the re ference character 2 and having an inlet manifold 3 connected to a carburetor 4 and an exhaust manifold 5.

A conduit 6 leads from the upper part of the engine jacket to a separating tank 7 from whichv a return line 8 to the jacket is provided. This provides a water circulating system which preferably is operated on the thermo-siphon principle. When the engine is put in operation the water begins to circulate to some extent. Because of the absence of any cooling means in the system it soon comes to a boil and a mixture of water and wet steam passes through the conduit 6 into the separating tank 7 The front wall 9 of the separating tank 7 separates it from a steam chamber 10 which lies above a condenser 11 occupying the position on the automobile which is normally occupied by the radiator. The steam chamber 10 has a top 10 to which the wall-9 is secured as clearly shown in Figure 2. The wall 9, however, does not extend quite up to the top of the separating and steam chambers,

thus leaving a space 12 through which steam -may pass from the separating chamber lnto the steam chamber as will be apparent from Figures 2 and 3. The steam chamber is divided in two parts at its upper portion by reason of extensions 9 of the wall 9 which are directed toward the front of the automobile and leave a small box-like aperture 13 below the. filling cap 14:. WVith this arrangement it is very easy to fill the system wit-h water in the ordinary way and there is no likelihood of the water getting into the condenser. .A baflle 15 is provided adjacent the aperture 13 toprevent any slug of water which may possibly move with some rapidity through the conduit 6 from being forced into the aperture 13 and causing water to enter the condenser. This baflle is preferably as wide as the opening 12. The

opening 12 provides a free and unrestricted steam passage but substantially prevents the passage of Water.

The steam in the chamber 10 passes downwardly into the condenser 11 and the condensate is conducted to a tank 16 therebelow. A conduit 17 leads from the tank 16 to the water acket of the engine and a pumpl 18 is placed in the conduit to secure a return of the condenser water to the system. In operation the pressure within the system varies considerably with the engine load and may show a vacuum as high as 15 inches of mercury or a pressure of 5 or even 6 pounds above atmosphere. A pressure gauge 19 is provided on the filling cap for indicating the pressure existing in the system. This gauge is arranged to indicate pressures either above or below atmosphere, and if desired may have characteristic markings such as normal, sub-normal, and so on. No attempt 1s made to hold the system to a predetermined pressure as it is found in opera tion that a variation of pressure and a consequent variation in condenser efliciency is exceedingly desirable.

In filling the system with water the filling cap it is removed and water is poured in until it is at a level witlrthe bottom 20 of the box-like aperture 13. This is the normal water level for the system and it is preferred to put in just the amount of water necessary tosecure this level. However, in order to insure proper operation even in careless filling, a blow off valve 21 is provided. This blow oif valve is connected to the separating tank 7 by a conduit 22 and the outlet of the conduit is on a level with the wall 20. Even though an excess of water is put in a system, sufiicient pressure will soon be generated to operate the blow off valve 21 at which time the excess water is automatically ejected and the system then operates as designed.

In order to supply the vapor from the system to the engine cylinders, there'is pro vided a conduit 23 leading from the steam let from the steam chamber where it is impossible for water to enter, nothing but steam will ever be drawn int-o the engine.

The conduit 23 leads to a separator 24 in which any water which may condense out of the steam during its passage through the conduit 23 collects. From the separator. 24, the condensed water flows through a con duit 25 having a trap 26 therein and terminating in the condensate tank 16. 7 After the trap is filled with water, which occurs in a very few moments, there is no danger of the condenser system being affected by pressure conditions existing in the separator 24:. A conduit 27 leads from the separator 24; to theintake manifold 3. A valve 28.is provided in this conduit for regulating the amount of vapor which is admitted to the engine. This valve .is operatively connected to the throttle control rod 29 by means of a sliding rod 30 having adjustable nuts 31 thereon. The valve 28 is so constructed that it will always admit a small amount of vapor to the intake manifold and as the throttle is opened this amount is increased. A check valve 32 is also provided in the corn duit. The conduit 27 is preferably run for a short distance along the outside ofthe exhaust manifold 5. The conduit should not go inside the manifold where it would i .9 chamber 10. Since the conduit finds its outi steam to the cylinders, results in remarkable increased efiiciency.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be under stood that it is not limited to the form shown as it may be otherwise embodied for practice Within the scope of the following claim. 7 I

I claim:

The method of cooling an automobile internal combustion engine having a cooling system of the boiling and condensing type which consists in extracting vapor from the condensing system and feeding this vapor to the engine fuel mixture charge in direct proportion to said fuel charge, thereby simultaneously reducing'the excess pressure and the temperature in the condensing system as well as cooling the explosive charge in the engine on intermittent heavy engine loads in order to produce a substantially uniform, constant Working temperature in both cooling system and engine cylinders.

Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

CHRISTIAN H. KENNEWEG. 

